(Our Bureau, May 24) Lisa Sthalekar is just the ninth female cricketer to reach the ICC Hall of Fame but her journey is probably more eventful than many of her peers. The Indian Australian all-rounder was born in Pune and left by her biological parents at an orphanage before an Indian American couple adopted her. The family eventually settled in Australia and Lisa went on to inherit the love for cricket from her father at a time when women’s cricket was still in its infancy. As a nine-year-old, she was the only girl among 600 boys playing at a local cricket club. A year after her ODI debut in 2001, Lisa lost her mother and that pushed her into depression. As an all-rounder, she broke many records: First woman to score 1,000 runs and get 100 ODI wickets, first Australian captain of Indian origin, first female board member of the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) — to name some. A few years back, she went back to the Pune orphanage, a visit that had a profound effect on her. Today, Lisa sits on the board of pro-adoption non-profit Adopt Change.
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